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This is an excellent video on understanding how saturation works to modify the quality of a sound. Michael Wynne explains all aspects thoroughly and in a very easy-to-understand way. It is well worth watching this video first. Kenny Gioia, master guru of Reaper, also released a video on saturation a couple of days ago. Since watching this video, I have been playing around with the free GSatPlus plugin that Kenny uses. It's great.
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2025
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Noel - I’ve not had any exposure to saturation prior to this, so thanks for sharing. The only saturation I’ve experienced is the weather in Melbourne! 😂😂
I have to admit I got seriously distracted by the super cool song that Kenny was playing - gonna have to research who it is.
Andrew
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Saturation is really useful. It was a function of tubes and tape back in the day. Since it tends to have a pleasing sound to the human ear, it is used in music to augment the tonal quality of a given sound. It can be used anywhere in the mix. If you look at some of the "VX-64 vocal strip in Cakewalk for example, has input saturation as well as output saturation controls.
As the signal level was increased going into the tape, the tape would reach the point where it could no longer accurately reproduce the signal in a linear manner. This results in what was referred to as saturating the tape with the signal level. It's a form of compression and distortion of the signal. The same thing is true with guitar amps that use tubes. Since tubes and tape are analog, this is a natural occurrence. With digital, not so much. As the signal is increased it simple can't go and the result is an unpleasant sounding distortion. So it was necessary to attempt to recreate the natural smooth compression and distortion found in the analog world and translate that to the digital world.
The distortion from saturation tends to have a "warming" effect on the instruments and vocals it's used on. The key to using it is to avoid overuse just like any other effect. A little bit is perfect but when you put too much in the mix, it can cause other issues. My rule of thumb for using compression and saturation especially, is that if you can "hear it" in the mix, you are using too much.
Even or odd order harmonics. In a nutshell, even order harmonics tend to sound good and odd order harmonics tend to have a hollow or nasal sound that some people don't like. As a guitar player, I have always liked tube amps because they naturally produce even order harmonics in the output stage. Transistor amps generally are the opposite and produce the odd order harmonics. Solid state amps are great if you are playing clean and don't push the amp into the distortion area of it's operational parameters, and, or, you like to use effects pedals. It's a matter of taste and preference. Some of the new digital, solid state modeling amps are really blurring the boundaries between these two worlds. The tone from modeling amps is certainly a force to be reckoned with for guitar tone.
If you don't have it.... A copy of The Studio Engineer's Handbook, latest edition, by Bobby Owsinski is a great investment for your library. He covers everything that you will use in your recording and mixing and explains it in easy to understand ways. There's also an interview section at the back with some rather in-depth insights into 30 or so other top engineers in the recording world that dig into how they do things and why.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Thanks Noel … interesting. I’ve used mild vintage sat sims for years primarily on bass and vocals. For us it adds a nice slight edge of richness.
Please don’t ask me to define richness. 😀
Bud
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! Our Videos are here on our website.
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So it sounds to me, from what you all have said, that you’d use saturation (sparingly) on individual tracks, and specifically those tracks that historically would have used analog gear, like vocals, guitars, to bring some warmth to the track sound?
Andrew
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Noel - I’ve not had any exposure to saturation prior to this, so thanks for sharing. The only saturation I’ve experienced is the weather in Melbourne! 😂😂
Andrew Hi Andrew. As a Melbournite, I can attest to those Melbourne days when all four seasons come and go in a matter of hours. Some days, Melbourne weather is indeed an event-filled thing. --Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2025
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Herb... thanks for the added info. I'll have a hunt for that reference you mention. Bud... While I have been using small amounts of saturation on vocals and guitars for a long time, I have never really understood what was happening other than adding some 'warmth'. I have only just recently developed a more comprehensive understanding of what 'warmth' means and how it works. I have also just recently discovered the value of using a small amount of distortion/saturation on bass and drums. My journey began when I watched the 6-minute video (below) on using Reaper's wave-shaping distortion. This video is excellent because it is very easy to hear how distortion/saturation enhance bass and drums; it's almost as if these instruments gain a kind of 3-D quality when well-judged amounts of distortion is added.
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2025
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This Reaper video is also eye-opening. Kenny Gioia uses layered distortion and saturation across all tracks to create a lo-fi mix.
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So it sounds to me, from what you all have said, that you’d use saturation (sparingly) on individual tracks, and specifically those tracks that historically would have used analog gear, like vocals, guitars, to bring some warmth to the track sound?
Andrew No. I recommend finding another word. "Warmth" actually has a meaning in audio and implies a larger bottom end or added bass response (but not reduced treble), qualities noticeably lacking on early CDs which is where the term, "analog warmth" came from. What saturation can bring to the table is enhanced harmonic content — the right added harmonics can be quite pleasing. Be careful because too much sounds like distortion—because that's what it is.
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MOTU has just listed this Exciter and Saturation Plug-ins Video on their Facebook page. You can Sign up to view them live but I have no idea how you access them afterward without going to their Facebook page. Anyway, I have paid little attention to exciters and saturators since my analog tape days (still have a BBE box somewhere). Aside from sweetening bass and drum tracks with a little distortion er... saturation, it just hasn't been important to me. Well, this presentation has changed my mind in a number of ways. Interestingly, thanks to various bundles, I own every plug-in mentioned except for Waves (never again!) so it's not going to cost me anything to play around with this.
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...... I have paid little attention to exciters and saturators since my analog tape days (still have a BBE box somewhere). ..... I remember the first time I heard about that BBE Maximizer. It was in a review on the Outlaw's new album release. I thought it was on one of the album covers and may be, but I couldn't find it on any of mine so it might have been in a magazine. At the time, I was in a band that was covering a lot of country rock and we were doing several Outlaws tunes as well. I recall that we really wanted to add one of those but in a band that couldn't afford to eat on a regular basis, buying new gear that wasn't essential was kinda off the table at the time.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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MOTU has just listed this Exciter and Saturation Plug-ins Video on their Facebook page. You can Sign up to view them live but I have no idea how you access them afterward without going to their Facebook page. Anyway, I have paid little attention to exciters and saturators since my analog tape days (still have a BBE box somewhere). Aside from sweetening bass and drum tracks with a little distortion er... saturation, it just hasn't been important to me. Well, this presentation has changed my mind in a number of ways.Interestingly, thanks to various bundles, I own every plug-in mentioned except for Waves (never again!) so it's not going to cost me anything to play around with this. I'd be interested in hearing about the how/why of the bolded part to make sure I haven't missed something.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
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